Transfiguration Lessons
by Starry Eyed Dreamer
Summary: It's 6th year and OWLs are around the corner. During Easter Holidays, Lily needs some help mastering a Transfiguration spell. Who better to help her than the star of Transfiguration, James? Some flirting and romance, general fluff. Read and Review!


Transfiguration Lessons

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, really, I wish I did.

Lily fiddled with her fingernails, chewing them absentmindedly until she caught herself. Green eyes glanced about the common room, alighting on the students left behind for the Easter holidays. As much as she loved her Mum and Dad, Petunia was far better with the doors locked and miles apart. Instead, she devoted her Easter holidays to studying for her O.W.L.s.

Sighing, she picked up her copy of _Standard Book of Spells, Grade 6 _and swished her wand a bit harder at the toad in front of her. Lily spent the last hour trying to do what every other person in her Transfiguration class had already mastered: splitting the toad in two to create two figurines.

The Professor had winked at the class, joking that it would be a good practical demonstration question on the exams if everyone was already so proficient. That class Lily had embarrassingly asked Alice Longbottom to perform the charm for her. Alice's toad had split four times, creating sixteen miniature figurines, all waltzing on the desk in front of her.

"Alice, would you transfigure my toad?"

"Can't you do it?"

"I'll get it later, _please_ Alice, Professor Quinn is coming over. Hurry, just don't make it so flashy," she hissed.

Lily had mouthed the spell while Alice performed it, and Professor Quinn passed her by.

Her two figurines took turns making faces and laughing at her.

That was a week ago. Now, Lily murmured "_Dismutato culmitate_," at the toad, willing it to split. Split? No, Lily gave up on that long ago, now she was aiming for a mere wiggle. The toad closed its eyes and shuddered. Lily's face neared it, hoping beyond hope that she had done _something_. It opened its eyes and, giving an almighty "RIBBIT!" leapt over her head.

Lily spun quickly, auburn hair twirling. Toads can move fast when they have a mind to it, and this one was sitting on the table since morning.

"This yours?" a laughing voice chuckled. The star of Transfiguration and Quidditch, James Potter clutched the toad in his fingers, despite its slimy efforts to escape. His blue eyes sparkled in the afternoon sun, making his smile seem full of inner secrets. "Looks like it doesn't like you much... I don't understand why. You've always seemed okay to me."

Lily caught her jaw before it dropped. The _illustrious James Potter _had just complimented her. She dismissed it quickly, knowing his easy charm with all members of his opposite sex. "Well, it's been sitting on that wood for hours..."

A shadow quickly passed over James's features and he bit his lip thoughtfully.

_I bet he doesn't know how cute he looks when he does that_, Lily thought.

"Look, don't take this the wrong way, but I watched you for a while. Are you trying to do that spell from Quinn's class?"

_He's good._ Lily nodded.

With a slight quaver in his voice, "Do you need help? I don't want to offend you, as a prefect, but I'd like to help."

A smirk on her face, Lily said, "You're a prefect too. I don't mind... I'd actually like the help." Moving close to the table, he placed the toad in the center. Turning to Lily, James said, "Watch the wand carefully." He picked up his wand and performed the patterns, the sign for infinity, zig zags, and a complicated flick from above his right shoulder to around his left hip. "_Dismutato culmitate!_"

The toad split into two figurines, remarkably resembling Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, clapping and whistling raucously.

"_Terminatium!_" Sirius and Remus put their arms around each others' shoulders before turning green and spotty with webbed feet. "Catch it?"

Making a face, Lily tried and got as far as the infinity sign. The toad croaked.

"No, you have to do it like this. Watch." James performed the zig zag pattern again. After failing once more, James reached for Lily's wrist. "Is this too close?" A little too vigorously, Lily shook her head and James sat behind her. Lily's heart raced and her mind blanked. All she could see was his tan skin on her light wrist and feel him so close to her. "It's like this." James guided her through the patterns twice and then let go for Lily to try. Every mistake was quickly corrected until she had memorized the whole sequence.

Breathing softly in her ear, James murmured, "Now." Lily said, "_Dismutato culmitate_," and the toad transfigured, splitting neatly into two figures, one with long hair and a pleated skirt and the other with untidy hair and a winning smile. The two danced in a circle, then she spun out, and when she came back in, the boy kissed her.

Shocked, Lily stammered, "_Terminatium!_" The floor turned into her best friend as she studied its every nook and cranny. Blushing, she said, "Thank you."

James tilted her head up. "It was my pleasure." Green eyes met blue and sparked with promises. This time, it was James who broke the contact. Turning to the toad, he said, "You're a quick learner." He picked it up with, "I wouldn't mind helping you some other time."

James placed the toad into Lily's hand, and with the electric contact Lily declared, "Maybe." He turned away and Lily sighed. _So much for that, Lily_. As she was about to turn, James called out, "I heard your specialty was Charms."

Relief and happiness splayed across her features, Lily answered, "Maybe. Are you asking for help?"

James immediately sat at the table and started the motions for the charm they had just learned in class. Lily admitted it was a bit complicated; it was an encrypted transcriber. She whispered a code into the parchment for five letters (A985 or AR) and after performing the charm and tapping the parchment, it would transcribe her words in the code beginning from the bottom of the page and writing backwards. After three taps and the code whispered into the parchment, the words would shift, showing what it transcribed.

Lily whispered her favorite code, "_Senscribere!_", and a few short sentences to the parchment. Lines scribbled across the page, drifting and floating to form her encrypted words.

"What does it say?" James inquired.

Teasingly, Lily taunted, "You'll just have to find out."

They worked until the end of lunch, and when Sirius interrupted them James miraculously discovered how to do the spell perfectly, giving them exactly thirty minutes for the meal.

"_James!_ You knew how to do it all along!" Lily stated, slapping him softly on the shoulder. (Of course, in the past few hours, they had gone from the distant prefects to the oddly swift friendship they had now.)

His smile told her his admittance. "I just wanted you to teach me. Besides, you didn't crack the code Miss-I-Can-Do-Any-Charm-On-the-Planet Lily. Do you want to sit with us at lunch?" Remus raised an eyebrow at James, but he ignored him. Tickling her, he asked again, "Is that a yes?"

Lily grinned broadly. "I have catching up to do. Can you save me something? I'll meet you here later."

James nodded and set off in the direction of the Great Hall, flanked by Sirius and Remus, with Peter trailing behind. Oddly, Lily hadn't noticed him the whole conversation. _I suppose he fades into the background. _Green eyes watched rakish hair turn the corner and flickered to the parchment before her. I bet he thought this was a hard one. Too bad he used my enchanted parchment.

She tapped the parchment, breathing, "_Retegere_," and the lines scribbled across the parchment with the code broken. What she saw surprised her so much, the normally detached Lily blushed to her ears and could not stop her face from beaming. She pressed the note to her chest and dreamed, the words echoing in her mind.

_Beautiful Lily, I admire your heart, your skill, and your smile. Will you join me for butterbeers in Hogsmeade?_

_Truly awed,_

_**James**_

So, whaddya think? It's my first story after a long hiatus, so please review!


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